Vehicle-wheel.



A. L. DE LEEUW.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED 0CT.19, 1910.

Patented July 21, 19M

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WzneJJeJ:

A. L. DE LEEUW.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 19, 1910.

Patented July 21, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. L. DE LEEUW.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLIGATION FILED 00T.19,191o.

y Patented July 2l, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

r"t I xl Il l Arenen non or cmcimvernomo;

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

Licence.

To IZZ 'whom t may concern Be it known that ADOLPH L. En LmUW, a citizen of the `United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county or" Hamilton and State of `l()hio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Wheels, or' which the followingis a! specification.'

My imfentionk relates to vehicle-Wheels, andthe object of my invention .is to provide cushioning-means for a vehicle-wheel 'coinprising Woven stretches oi metal or spring material annnlarly arranged Whose ineshes vare normally as close at the peripheral as they arent the inner tace thereof; further, to provide cushioning means for a vehicle-Wheel comprising a structure having crossing stretches of metal or spring-mate` rial, the normal shape of the said stretches being irregular helices of greater pitch atf the peripheral than at the inner face of said structure and having the greater portlon oi the weight of said stretches adjacent said periphery; further, to provide a cushioning means for a vehicle-Wheel comprising a-t-uhn- 'lar structure of Woven stretches of xnetaljor spring-material Whose normal niesh is longer and narrower and of as small area atthe peripheral as at the inner face of said strucvof greater pitch and formed with greater compressin at the nel face thereof.

My invention also lproposes a Weave of uniform Wire yielding a torusprovidinga distribution of metal as dense at its tread as elsewhere and having the strands at the tread disposedatsuch an angle to the great peripheral than at the ineircle of the torus Will obviate the necesvsity of spacing the strands fartherl apart than elsewhere.

A further object. of my invention is to provide a' Woven tuhino comprising resilient 'stretches to forni the primary supporting part of the tubing and stretches which have resilience than the primary supporting stretches; further, to provide a `Woven tubnigcomprising resilient stretches to form Specieation of Letters yatent.V

lcushioning structure.

v Wheel embracing my invention in its preterred forni. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation Vof the Woven structure in its preferred form, partly broken away, partof the wires or' the portion shown being also Patenten 'amy saisie. sensation ne@ october is, 191e. serial no. 587,359; f 'f f f omitted t-o more clearly show the directions in which the Wires extend. Fig. 3 is van inside elevation of the same, with the Wires partly broken away. Fig.- el is an outside elevation of the same, with the Wires partly broken away. Fig. 5 is a cross-section ofV the saine on the line z-a of Fig. 2. ,Fig 6' is a side elevation of the woven structure, shovm provided with a covering, partly broken array. Fig. '7 is a cross-section of the. latter, on the line y-y of Fig. 6, shown mounted on a Wheel, partlyrbroken away. Fig. 8 is a Vperspective View, partly broken away, showing iny improved devicef provided rvith an outer tread received about' the F ig. 9 is a side elevation of the tubular struct-ure provided With primary resilient stretches and less resilient stretches. Fig. l0 is a detail of the same in section` on the line -w of Fig. 9. Fig. ll is a detail of the 'same in section on .the line 'w-Jw of Fig. 9'. 'F ig. 12 is a detail of the same in section on the line w-w of Fig. 9, but provided with a covering; and Fig. 13 is a cross-section of the saine on the line -:e of Fig. 9, partly broken away, provided with a covering, and shown as part of. a Wheel, partly broke-n away.

A represents a vehicle-Wheel which may be of suitable size and relativedimensions for the purpose intended. It embraces a., central supporting part, arranged to support the axle or supporting stem of the vehicle, which is shown as .comprising a huh` B,A spokes C, and a rim D.

E is a woven structure, which is formed vup of stretches of metal or spring-material which are suitably'woven, being elastically to resist the load upon the same.

In its preferred 'form itfis' annularlyl ai' ranged about the central supporting part of the vehicle-Wheel, andrasy shown the meshes of the structure are of smaller area at the peripheral face than at the'- inner face of the same, as; will bereadily seenl by a comparison Iof Figs. 3 and 4.- I accomplish this by providing la greatertportion of the metal comprising the struct-ure cross-sectionally ad-l jacent the peripheral face than the inner face of the saine.4 For accomplishing this purpose, further, it is desirable that the stretches be. arranged in helical manner about the axis of the tube, those portions of the helices adjacent the inner face vofy the structure being 'of less itch than those portions adjacent the perip 'eral face' of the structure, whereby the Vmesh adjacent the peripheral portion is longer (see Fig.V 4) Aand Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5.

narrower'and of less area than the mesh' adjacent the inner portion Aof the structure, (see Fig. 3), the stretchesl being arranged laterally sov as to be separated by distances decreasing in increasing ratio from the inner face to the peripheral face of the structure (seeFigs'. 5 and 7), such distances being measured on a line at substantial right angles to the stretches.

As shown 'the wires 1 are Wound to the right, andthe wires 2 to the left, the wires 1 and 2 crossing each other at the points 3. The meshes of the wire, shown at 4, at and adjacent to the periphery of the structure, are shown smaller than the meshes, shown at 5, at and adjacent to the inner face of the structure. These meshes are shown considerably larger than they are in practice, many of the wires being omitted for better illustration, as instanced particularly The meshes 4 are longer and narrower than the meshes 5. The major axes of the meshes 4 preferably extend lengthwise of the tubing, while the major axes of the meshes 5. preferably vextend crosswise of the tubing. The shapeof the stretches is shown'as of irregular helices of greater pitch at and adjacent to the peripheral than at and adjacent to the inner face of the structure, a greater port-ion of the weight of said stretches being at the periphery than at the inner face of said structure. Instanciiig this feature of my invention, the dotted line a- (see Fig. 2) may represent-the center of weight or gravityA of the tubing Vcross-sectionally of the same, which it will benoted is outside the cross-sectionalvcenterof said tubing, represented by thedotted line b. The tubing is preferably;y woven -in such manner that there is greater compression upon the weave of the vstretches at one sidev than -atthe other side of the tubing,lwhere,v

by when the force exerted inholdingfthe tubing in the weaving operation is released, the tubin will arrange itself in curved or y/annular orm, and the face having the "greater compression thereon will form the peripheral face of said curved orannularly `formed tubing. -I do ynot herein claim the method of so weaving my improved construction, nor the mechanism employed, re-V serving these for other applications, hereinl showing. describing and claiming the article produced. Apparat-us for carrying out the method above referred to and for producing theai-ticle hereindescribed is made the" subject matter of my co-peiiding application lSerial No. 606,903, iled.February 6th, 1911.

The woven structure may if desired and preferably does form the primary cushion-v ing means of thefveliic'le-wheel. The woven lstructure may if desired be provided with a protective covering -6 suitably applied. If

desired, further, an outer peripheral part 7 may be provided, which embracesthe tread 8 of the vehicle-wheel, the woven structure being received between said central supporting part and peripheral part of tlie 'wheel.

I have shown the structure A'mention-ed located adjacent to the periphery of the wheel, although it maybe located nearer the axis z For supporting the tubularstructure about the central supporting part, the rim D may be provided with anannular groove 11, having annular Haring side walls 12, 13, vone of which may be an integral part of the rim, and the other be on a ring-section 14 clamped to the main part of the 'rim by bolts 15 and nuts 16, the ring section being provided with an annular rabbet 17, the annular walls of said rabbet forming shoulders against which the main part of said rim is received. If desired, further, the tubing may also coniprise stretches of less resilience than the stretches 1 and '2, a preferred forni of which is shown in Figs. 9 to linclusive. These of the wheel, or may1 if desired serve as the ltread of the wheel.4 If' a peripheral part iot stretches of less resilience are preferably of greater diameter or cross-sectional area than thestretches 1 and 2 of resilient niater-ifah These. stretches of less resistance are preferablyiof. 1 markedly less resilience than the stretclies'l" and. 2', and are preferably of substantially moliere They moy be of librerie-inaferial or :i s losence which is preferably oapable of bing- "froven with substantially litftle resistenee with tie stretches of yresilient rrnzxteriell lie liibing fJWlien employing ktlie streit-elles of le re silienee, which mer` be termed the seeondary Vstreehes t-lie s'retolies of primary' `resilient nieteriel meritioneill. insenoefl `es tlie wires l=.end 2f, preerzibly ornitlie primary sup- 1porting part ofthe tubing. and the streohes ole'ss resilientniateril forze the primary oontaotportion or, if desiree..r the securing Vportion of the tubing, and for aiding in these ieunctions tlie stretches of less resilient ineterial arepreierablr of greater emes-seo tional aree or (lieroeterthan the Cross-seovtioi'ialarea erdierneter of the. primary sup no resili e; ortiiw.Y stretches. D

f l llave iiistenced the stretches of lef's .'silient materiel et 2l and lie less rek"silient stretches are arranged to pass in Aout among the primary resilient stretches vso Aas to be berend. vtirer-esili and lie located thereby. The stretches 2l are shown mundv to the right and the stretches, 22 to t-lee left.

ln Weep-ing the tubing, when eniploy -E both characters of stretches, the primary resilient -stretcliesoniltlie.less resilient stretches opreferebljf. arranged side by sirle. with tlie meshes relatii'eljyY arranged as liereinbefore Amore partie-,ulerl;v eqnleinel with reference to Figs. l to i" inclusive, with a Closer Weave etwtlie .perii eral portier zit the inner Y portion of the tubing, The 'two characters of stretches prererobly lere eoineirlen; crossn ing points es clearly shown in Fig. The tubing emplojfin gsilient stretelies and f 40 vstre-telles nieyoe eiiiplojve 'tionses the t* fleseril the resilien 1 v reresilient same relaV oniposed oi ria a om ering when of stretches, the

H5, is received about vthetubing. viff-lieVV Covering is preferably of elastic nieteriul, `for instnnoe rubber or the like. lts ponse to pressures liable to be along Willi' non die lines response to of' the primary resilient stretches D. vvEinsecuring; the cov ring in itwere molded.onlj.- about the primary I *re-tolles. tlie joints 'between the vieovering pand 'tubular' structure might in "course of time severed as a result of the stresses respeeiively of the Covering and prifmry .resilient stretches acting along difierent lines Wliieli would result in n Creeping 7 of the Covering upon the tubing. ln order to svoiel suoli *creeping7 and to secure the 'coiering'to tlietiibing, the covering is caused toliaie close Connection Wit-li those portions f-oftlie Vstretches ,of less elastic material Wliicli "ere reoeiveelalooutthe onterfaees of the pristretclies which rneinein the coverin ini pleo^e-irrespeeeire oit' elle direoicionslo ,the

lines of stress in performing elle cushioninginner-ion oiV tilewl'ieel. @het is to say, the

by torno loops about. *the primary mipportmgj secondary streiohes, which are preferably.

nonqesilieet or only slightly so, form tying means for bining the ,covering to the priniery resilient streiolies and in practice will4 yield ioeelyto the stresses between the cov-f erin` incl the primary resilient Structure wif-noni: undue resistance; brit securely-'bindinf;1 the covering to the tubing. y Hei/'ing' tiens filly described. my invention, Wl eleini es new and desire to secure by Letters letent is: Y

l. A torus of strands normally interweaw ing et, e pitch progressively increasing imm its innermost to its outermost periphery.

2. A resilient self-sustaining tire of spring `rire strands eeen helieally rnterweering norreally et a pitch progressively increasing from its innermost to its outermost periphly.

3. el Wire fabric constituting e. tire elenient and consisting of a plurality of Wire strands normally interweeving right and left et e pitch progressirely increasing from its lesser to its greater peripheral portions.-

l. A torus of stiff resilient strands lieliosllj. normally interweaving to forni Cireiinilerentiell, elongated diamond-shaped nieslies at its meier periphery and. transverse-ly elongated diamond-shaped meshes et its minor perinliery. j

5. A woven egi fabric constituting a tire lement and eorsisting oi e' pluralityl of c str i s interweevingright and it et n piteli progressively inereasing from n inner peripheral line to its outermost e 'ploerel portion, the meshes at the outermost peripheral portion being normally cil'- euniierentially elongated, those at an intermediate peripheryT being normally righteiiglecl perallelogrefnis, enel. tllose at Aan ini peripheral portion being normally transverseljy elongated.

6. torus comprising e right and a' left series of interweering helical strands, the' nogV spring wire strands of uniform cross-section l ery as at the inner face thereof, and a coverthereabout interweaving right and left at a pitch progressively increasing from an inner peripheral line `to its outermost peripheral p0rtion, said strands being crowded together as closely at the tread portion as elsewhere and providing as dense a distribution of metal per unit area lat the said tread .asat the innermost periphery.

9. A vehicle-wheel comprising a central supporting part and a structure received comprising woven helical stretches'of spring-material having a mesh at the periphery thereof as small as at the inner facethereof, and forming cushioning 'Ineans for' said vehicle-wheel.v

v10. A vehicle-wheel comprisin a central supporting part, a structure recelved thereabout comprising Woven helical stretches of- 'metal having -as close a mesh at the periphing for said structure. y v

11. 4A vehicle-wheel comprising a central supporting part, and a structure received thereaboutcomprising woven stretches of metal in the form of irregular' helices of greater pitch at the (periphery than at theV inner face thereof an cross-sectionally provided wit-h a greater number, ofA stretches atAv the peripheralthan at theinner face of the same.

12. A vehicle-wheel comprising a central supporting part, a 'peripheral part, and a tubular structure comprising woven stretches `of spring-material in the shape of irregular helices of greater pitch at the periphery than at the inner face of said tubular structure and cross-sectionally comprising a greater number of stretches at the peripheral than at the inner face of the-same, for cross-sectionally providing greater weight of metalat the peripheral than at the inner face of said v structure and providing said tubular struc# ture with smaller mesh at the peripheral than at the inner face of same, said tubular structure received between said central supporting part and peripheral part and forming the primary cushioning means of said vehicle-wheel. 5 0

wheel comprising'a curvedtubing embracing woven stretches of spring-material ar'- ranged in irregular helices having less pitch and forming larger sized meshes adjacent the innerv than the peripheral face of said mf! tubing.

16. A cushioning means Afor 'a vehicle# A wheel comprising a tubing annularly l:formed and embracing woven stretches of springmaterial of uniform size helically arranged,'

the center of gravity o'f said tubing cross sectionally of the same being outside the cross-sectional center of said tubing.

17. A cushioning means for a vehiclewheel comprising an endless tubular structure annularly formed, embracing woven stretches of spring-material helically arranged with less 'pitch at the inner face and greater pitch at the vperipheral/face of said structure,;and the mesh whereof is closer at said peripheral, face than it is at the. inner face of said structure.

18. A cushioning means for aV v hicle' wheel comprising an annularlyshape tub-v ing. of 'woven stretchesof metal in the form of irregular helices having the greater portions of their lengths outside the axis of said tubing.

19. A ushioning means for a vehiclewheel comprising a curved woven tubing having ,helical stretches arranged with closer nlllesh aft the peripheral than at the inner face t ereo v,

annular 20. A cushioning means for a vehic1e.V

wheel comprising a woven' tubing of the character mentioned of stretches helically laid with greater pitch'and less lateral dis` tance and smaller mesh between said stretches at one side than at the other side of said tubing` for the purpose specified.

v21.. A vehicle-wheel comprising a central supporting part and a structure received thereabout comprising woven primary stretches of spring-material and stretches of less resilient material having a mesh at the periphery thereof as small as at the inner face thereof, and forming cushioning means for said vehicle-wheel.

22. A cushioning means for a vehiclewheel comprising a. curved tubing embracing woven primary stretches of spring-material and secondary stretches of less resilient ma# terial, said wovenprimary stretches `of spring-material arranged in irregular helices having less pitch adjacentl the inner than the peripheral face of said tubing.

wheel comprising a curved tubing embracing'woven primary stretches of spring-material and secondary stretches of less re-y silient material, said woven primary stretches of spring-material arranged in irregular helices having less pitch adjacent the inner than the peripheral face of said 120 u ,23. A cushioning means fora vehiclef lim-,3

tubi-ng, vand said secondary; stretches-being respectively of larger'size than said primary stretches.

24. A cushioning means for a vehiclewheel comprising a curved tubing embrac` ing Woven primary stretches ofsprin'g-material and secondary stretches of less resilient material, said primary stretches of spring-material arranged in irregular helices having less pitch adjacent the inner than the peripheral face of said tubing, and forming the primary supporting part ot' said curved tubing, and said secondaryv stretches of less resilient material forming separating means between Said l primary stretches.

25. A curved Woven cushioning means for a vehicle-wheel comprising in combination primary stretches of spring-material and secondary stretches of less resilient material arranged more compactly at the peripheral than at the inner face thereof, the sald secondary stretches being of larger size than said primary stretches, for the purpose described.

26. A curved woven tubing of the character mentioned of resilient stretches helically laid with greater pitch at theperipheral than at the inner face thereof, and less resilient stretches, and a covering secured to said less resilient stretches, which lattler have portions of their strandsreceived about said first-named resilient stretches inside said tubing.

27. A curved -woven tubing of the character mentioned of resilient stretches' helically laid with greater itch at the perihperal than at the inner ace thereof and less resilient stretches, and a covering secured to said less resilient stretches, which latter have portions of their strands received about said first-named resilient stretches inside said tubing, said less resilient stretches being of larger size than said resilient stretches.

28. A cushioning means for a vehiclewheel comprising a curved woven tubing of the character mentioned of primary resilient and less resilient stretches of uniform `size throughout theirlength and helically laid with greater amount of material at the peripheral'than at the inner face thereof.

29. A cushioning means for 'a Vehiclewheel'comprising a curved Woven tubing of the character mentioned of primary resilient and less resilient stretches helically laid Withgreater amount of material at the peripheral than at the inner face thereof, said less resilient stretches being laid alternately inside and outside said primary Aresilient stretches and being of larger size than said resilient stretches.

30. A curved Woven tubing of the character mentioned of primary resilient and less resilient stretches helically laid with greater amount of material at the peripheral than at the inner face thereof, said less resilient stretches being laid alternately inside and outside said resilient stretches and being of greater diameters than said resilient stretches, and a covering connecting with the outside portions of said less resilient stretches.

t 31. A cushioning means for a vehiclewheel comprising a woven tubing of the character lmentioned, formed of helical stretches of uniform size, said stretches being so laid that there is a greater Weight of material on one side of a plane passing throughthe axis of said tubing than on the other side thereof.

32. A cushioning means for a vehiclewheel comprising an annular woven tubing of the character mentioned, formed of helical stretches of uniform size, said stretches being so laid that there is a greater Weight of material outside of any linc passing through the axis of the tubing perpendicular to the plane of the annulus than on the inside of such line.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name hereto in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ADoLPH L. DE LEEUW.

Witnesses:

EDWARD SoU'rnwonrH, JACOB A. HOLLANDER.

Sepia o! this patent may be obtained for ivo sont: each, by addxelsing the Oommuioner ot Patents, Washington, D. 0." 

